Compendium :: Guide to Copyright Law for Business Blogs

Copyrights protect “original works of authorship.” If you author a work, you receive copyright protection immediately upon placing it in some tangible, recognizable form. Basically, copyright law does not protect mere ideas, but once you place that idea to paper, your blog or another fixed form, you are protected. There is no requirement for publication, notice or registration to obtain a copyright, although each is often beneficial. Copyrights are the main source of protection for creators of public works. However, copyright protections are limited in certain instances to allow the public fair access to these protected works.

The fair use doctrine emerged and has been developed through judicial decisions. Congress has set forth guidelines for fair use at 17 U.S.C.A. §107. “Fair use” is an affirmative defense to a claim of copyright infringement. Essentially, this means the alleged infringer (you) admit to using such copyrighted material, but defend your use by asserting that it was allowed pursuant to the fair use doctrine. As the infringer, you bear the responsibility and burden to prove the use was fair.

The fair use doctrine balances the tension between promoting the creation of public works and allowing for freedom of speech and dissemination of information. More specifically, the fair use doctrine ensures that the public has appropriate access to use and disseminate the information contained in public works. The access granted under fair use is limited so that the creators of copyrighted work, like you, remain secure and incentivized to publish such works.

The “Exclusive rights in copyrighted works”, which are found at 17 U.S.C.A §106, sets forth the rights of a copyright owner. This statute provides the copyright owner with a monopoly to do or to authorize others to do the following.

to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;
this means that if you write the Adventures of an Internet Blogger, only you have the right to reproduce copies of that work or give permission for others to do so;

to prepare derivative works based upon copyrighted work;
this means if you write the Adventures of an Internet Blogger, only you have the right to write or give permission for another to write the Adventures of an Internet Blogger #2;

in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, to perform copyrighted work publicly;
this means that if you turn the Adventures of an Internet Blogger into a musical, only you have the right to perform it publicly or give permission for others to do so.

in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to display the copyrighted work publicly; and

to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;

in case of sound recordings, to perform copyrighted work publicly by means of digital audio transmission.

The copyright owner’s rights listed above are intentionally broad (with the major media conglomerates on their side, they have a good lobby). Fortunately for the bloggers of the world, these rights are subject to various limitations, qualifications, and exemptions. Fair use is one such major limitation to a copyright owner’s exclusive rights.